Archive for March, 2011

Hi there, this is Melissa, the older sister of Sarah and Amanda. I was asked to contribute, and I am so excited!

I just wanted to take the time to introduce myself and let you know some things I have been working on. I live with my husband, Andrew, and our three doggies-Pee Wee, Kona, and Ginger! Of course the are the cutest pups around, I will post pictures at a later date!

I spend my time working for a local non-profit in town because I am social worker. In my spare time I love to read a good book, sew a new project, work on my garden, try out a new recipe, or redecorate a room in my house!

Currently, I am working on a quilt. As you can see I have 4 squares done. I have this hanging on my wall. It is a Fons and Porter product and allows you to visualize your quilt. The fabric I am using is a Moda Charm Pack called Le Petite Ecole. It is absolutely adorable, as are all moda fabrics. I hope to keep you updated on its progress!

I also wanted to share pictures of my first spring garden. My husband built the base, and we filled it with compost from our local natural gardener. I have planted: tomatoes, rosemary, squash, green beans, garlic, onions, potatoes, cucumber, lettuce and strawberries.

If they survive, I look forward to cooking with these items. I have been cooking 2 new recipes a week, so I hope to share soon!

One more thing: A quick and easy way to update your patio! I added lights from Target, big bulbs with lots of light. Then I bought three hanging baskets with beautiful petunias! It made a world of difference and added some spring into my back yard!

The recipe I used said to put it all in a blender, but I put it in my food processor. It worked great, although David thought the garlic was in big chunks. I heated it up after I processed it all. Oh, and I added some cheese to melt too. Yummy.

I think if I did it again, I would add an extra can of diced tomatoes and maybe a little more vinegar (although I doubled what it called for). It is pretty tasty though. I added some ground turkey, cheese, and whole wheat pasta to make a delicious dish.

So I know this post won’t have a lot of pictures and isn’t about sewing or cooking or crafting, but I spent at least 16 hours this weekend working on the yard with David. His front yard was drab dated flowerbeds with little to know flowers in them and grass that needed some help. A couple weeks ago we found fifteen 18 inch square stepping stones buried in the back yard (story of this house) and thought, what can we do with these?

(Side Story… The discovery of these stones went a little like the movie Funny Farm, thankfully this was no coffin buried in the yard.)

I drew up some plans and we created a large flowerbed that would extend to the street and incorporate the stepping stones and some flowers in the future along the front of the house.

The biggest difficulty was that a tree had been removed when David moved into the house, but it’s root system was extensive. David has never worked so hard in his life as he did removing those roots. I’ll add a picture.

Steps we took:-Removed rocks from what used to be a flower bed (that odd dirt rectangular pile)
-Removed Grass and layer of dirt-Removed extensive roots
-Edged the bed with a plastic edging
-Laid down a weed/moisture cloth
-One layer of sand about an inch or so thick
-Placed stepping stones
-Added mulch around stones

Anyway, after all that hard work, we have officially created a beautiful walkway to the street. Here’s what it looks like:

I know I’ve been a bit slow at completing this quilt, and I’m sure Melissa feels even more impatient about it. But, I am proud to say that this past weekend – I completed the wedding guestbook quilt. And it looks great.

Because of the special meaning and lifetime of this quilt, I wanted to be sure it was designed just as special. I tried a few new things and tried to make it feel modern and fun.

I’ve never:

– Quilted through my solid spacer fabric with a contrasting color before… But it looks great.

– Created a NOT Solid backing. I was worried about it being straight and square, and I was right. At the very edge it veers off a bit… But really, I think it made the back awesome.

– Created my own binding! Again… LOVE. I learned from that process as well and corners are my enemy.

I’m glad its done… Not just to get if off of my to-do list, but so Melissa and Andrew can finally enjoy the memory of their wedding and my special gift!